Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk on their UCL exit to Copenhagen and the referee situation in Turkiye
Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk on their UEFA Champions League exit to Copenhagen and the referee situation in Turkiye
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00:00 Today, in the first half, it was important to see what would happen in both teams.
00:11 For us, winning today was a direct step up.
00:17 We knew that our opponent would wait for us in defence, pass the ball to us and try to attack.
00:23 That's how the match went. The ball was with us. We played on the opponent's side.
00:30 We played on the opponent's penalty area. There were positions where we were in the last half.
00:35 Our opponent tried to attack. We conceded a goal, but we couldn't score from behind.
00:43 We could have produced more. The players we had were able to attack from the wings.
00:57 We lost the last half in very clear positions.
01:01 We are sad that we lost, but we are continuing our way in Europe.
01:09 Our aim is to get to a better place, especially to be one of the teams that will go to the final.
01:19 That's our new aim.
01:22 Before the game, the scenario for both teams.
01:28 We played our own game and were looking for the result of the other game.
01:34 For us, winning this game directly would qualify us for the next stage.
01:41 Our opponent, especially defending, gave us the ball and looked for transitions to attack.
01:48 That's what we expected. Most of the game has been like that.
01:52 We played on the opponent's side, on the opponent's box.
01:56 Especially in the last half, we got chances.
01:59 Our opponent tried to look for a transition to attack.
02:03 We conceded a goal, but we couldn't score.
02:07 We could have created more chances with the players we have.
02:18 Our opponent closed centrally. We could have used more on the wings.
02:23 In the last part, we could have created more chances.
02:29 We are sad about losing the game, but we continue in Europe.
02:33 Our target is to get even better results there.
02:38 Especially getting to the finals and being one of the teams that can go there.
02:43 This is our new goal.
02:45 Deniz Hanım, you can wait for the microphone.
02:48 First of all, your interview in the Champions League was really good.
02:53 Thank you very much for that.
02:55 Is the European series a more realistic goal?
02:59 How far will you go when you look at your opponents?
03:04 What is your goal?
03:23 I don't think the points we have gained from the games we played are equal.
03:31 We should have scored higher points.
03:36 But as you said, we have a new goal.
03:41 We will be one of the teams that will come from the European League.
03:47 We will be in the final 32.
03:51 We will see what we can do with the teams that will come.
03:58 But we played well against the important teams in the Champions League.
04:04 This made us excited about going to the final 16 and going higher.
04:11 But our goal is to be in the Champions League.
04:16 We want to go to the final 16 like Galatasaray did in the European League.
04:26 We will have good opponents there.
04:30 It will be a difficult road.
04:32 But the game we played in Galatasaray gives us hope for the future.
04:40 What is your goal?
04:43 The points we have gained are not equal.
04:51 I don't think so.
04:53 When you compare it to the games we have played, we should have scored more.
04:57 But as you said, there is a new goal ahead of us in the European League.
05:03 From the group stage, there will be teams that will qualify.
05:07 We will be in the last 32.
05:10 From there, the teams that will qualify, we will see what can happen.
05:18 But the game we played in the Champions League against important teams,
05:23 we played very well.
05:25 This made us feel like we could qualify for the last 16.
05:32 But our goal, as I said, is to be eliminated from the Champions League
05:38 and to be in the European League like Galatasaray won years ago.
05:43 Playing the final is our goal right now.
05:48 There will be very strong opponents over there as well.
05:51 There will be very difficult games.
05:53 But as Galatasaray, the game we have played in the group stage
05:56 in the Champions League for us, for the future, gives us hope.
05:59 Burhan Can Bey.
06:03 Coach, first of all, thank you for making us believe that Galatasaray can beat any team in this tournament.
06:10 But we can say that this is the most negative game of the six games.
06:17 It seemed like the team was forced to play.
06:21 They played very often and could not reach the goal.
06:24 Why do you think this happened?
06:26 I would also like to ask about the decision of TT Ziyech.
06:32 In this adventure, Galatasaray could win against any team.
06:37 You made us believe in that. We are thankful for that.
06:40 But perhaps from the last six games, this was the most negative we could say.
06:46 The team was forced to cross a lot.
06:50 There were very often crosses and we could not get the result.
06:54 Why did this happen?
06:56 I also want to ask about the decision of TT and Hakim Ziyech.
07:01 Even in the game we saw as bad, we scored 22 shots.
07:06 We were in the penalty area with more than 40 opponents.
07:09 The chances we made were not enough to get the opponent into the penalty area.
07:16 We did not make the right choices, the right chances.
07:22 Even in the game we saw as bad, we reached a significant number.
07:28 We should have made more clear choices.
07:35 My decision about Ziyech was that he could not train for a long time.
07:44 It was only his first training.
07:46 We talked to him and asked him to play for 30-35 minutes.
07:54 When I called Mertens and Ziyech, we called them at 0-0 in the 55th minute.
08:03 He could play in the 58th minute.
08:06 We had a plan.
08:12 We wanted to score in this plan.
08:15 Ziyech should play in the rest of the game.
08:18 We were not productive, but we did a lot of things.
08:24 We should reflect this.
08:27 We had bad shots and bad midfielders.
08:30 Our quality should have been better.
08:34 But we left the wings empty.
08:40 We could not get them into the penalty area.
08:44 In the game we saw as bad, we shot 20 times and entered the box 40 times.
08:56 The crosses we made, our opponents were deep inside the box.
09:02 We should have chosen the crosses correctly.
09:07 We could not do it clearly.
09:10 We see this game as bad, but we have an important number.
09:16 We could have finished more clearly.
09:19 We could have crossed more clearly.
09:21 My decision about Ziyech is that for a short period, Ziyech could train with us.
09:31 It was a very short period.
09:33 We have spoken to him in 30-35 minutes.
09:37 He could support us.
09:40 We asked for that.
09:42 When I called for Mertes and Ziyech, it was 0-0 in the 55th minute.
09:48 He could enter in the 58th minute.
09:52 We had an important plan.
09:57 In that plan, after Ziyech entered the game, we were not very creative.
10:05 Despite that, we have done many things.
10:09 We should have gotten the result.
10:13 Sometimes we could not finish well, sometimes we could not cross well.
10:16 Our team should have done better.
10:19 Our opponent left the wings free.
10:24 We could have progressed easily from the wings.
10:27 We could not receive the ball inside the box.
10:30 Last question.
10:32 You can ask the question.
10:42 Coach, how did you find the tempo of the game?
10:46 Could Galatasaray have played more tempo?
10:53 I observed it.
10:56 How was the rhythm of the game?
10:58 How did you see Galatasaray playing?
11:00 Perhaps playing with a higher rhythm for Galatasaray, we could have gotten the result.
11:05 Of course, against a team that was waiting, against a team that was closed,
11:10 you had to turn the ball faster.
11:12 I think we could not do it better in the first half.
11:17 We did it better in the second half.
11:19 But as I said, the opponent was closed and the ball was given to you.
11:27 There was a big difference in the possession of the ball at the end of the game.
11:32 But we needed speed and productivity.
11:38 It was an unlucky night for us.
11:41 It was unlucky for Hakim Ziyeh to recover from his injury.
11:46 Zaha also had an injury in his wrist in the last weeks.
11:50 Icardi also had this injury.
11:53 It was not the best period for us.
11:57 We could not do the right things in the creative work.
12:03 But the tempo of the game could have been faster.
12:07 We needed more creativity.
12:09 The biggest strength of our opponent was running, defending and waiting.
12:15 They did it in the Munich match.
12:17 It was 0-0. They could not score.
12:19 They had the chance to score in the transfer window.
12:22 It was the same here.
12:23 It was a team that played 0-0.
12:25 We had to open it.
12:26 But when we scored, our opponent was pulled back.
12:29 We could not score even if we had created the position.
12:34 Of course, against a team that is waiting and playing close defensively,
12:41 we should have played faster, circulating the ball.
12:45 In the first half, we could not do so well.
12:48 In the second half, we were a bit better.
12:50 But as I said, the opponent tried to lower the rhythm,
12:54 trying to close and giving the ball to us.
12:57 In the ball position at the end of the game, there was a big difference.
13:01 But here, the speed and also truly we needed creativity.
13:07 We needed to produce more.
13:09 It was an unlucky night on one side.
13:11 Because in this way, for example, Hakim Ziyech coming back from injury.
13:16 Zaha also in the latest weeks was injured from his ankle.
13:21 Icardi had that injury.
13:23 Actually, in the best period for us, it wasn't the best situation for us.
13:30 But we couldn't create chances in the best way.
13:34 Especially the rhythm of the game could have been better.
13:36 We needed more creativity.
13:38 Of course, over here, the biggest strength of our opponent was running a lot,
13:42 defending well and waiting in their own half.
13:45 Against Bayern Munich, they did this.
13:48 It was 0-0 in the end.
13:50 They got a chance in an away game.
13:52 Here as well, 0-0, they tried to play.
13:56 But we conceded and after that, they defended even more, staying even deeper.
14:01 Even though we created certain chances, we couldn't get the result.
14:05 Our press conference is over. Good evening, everyone.
14:07 Thanks so much.
14:09 (scraping)